Firm Delays Ragweed Treatment Test

ImmuLogic Pharmaceutical Corp., which last week said it planned to launch a clinical trial next month for its proposed ragweed allergy treatment, has abruptly canceled that test.

The postponement was made Thursday after the U.S. Food and Drug Administration asked the company for additional safety-related information from the Waltham, Mass., company's previous 500-person clinical trial held last summer.

Susan Primrose, an ImmuLogic spokeswomen, said that the time needed to fulfill the FDA's request would make it impossible to meet ImmuLogic's timetable of holding a new clinical trial starting in July.

Because the clinical trial can only be held in the summer ragweed season, when pollen concentrations are at their highest, ImmuLogic said it plans to launch an evaluation next summer.

An estimated 20 million Americans suffer from ragweed allergies, according to the company.

"Management was disappointed to have received these requests so late in the discussion process," said Dr. Joseph Marr, ImmuLogic's chief operating officer.

Primrose said ImmuLogic will now focus on conducting a phase II clinical trial on its AllerVax cat allergy product. An estimated five million people in the United States are allergic to cat fur. The AllerVax vaccine--a series of injections over a two-week period--is designed to prevent sneezing, runny noses and other upper respiratory reactions in people allergic to cats. Last year, the company held a 270-person clinical trial and announced positive results in January.